Embodying the White Racial Frame: The (In)Significance of Barack Obama.
Immediately after Obama's election, within both popular and scholarly discourse, claims that his election signified a post-racial America emerged. In this paper we examine these claims by situating Barack Obama's path to the presidency within the context of the post-civil rights politics of race. We...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Race & Policy (Old Dominion University) Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 123 - 139 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Old Dominion University, Consortium for Research on Race, Diversity & Policy
May2010
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=55096916&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 55096916 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 15408450 3FMP jtl: Journal of Race & Policy (Old Dominion University) issn: 15408450 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: May2010 vid: 6 iid: 1 pid: 91446 pub: Old Dominion University, Consortium for Research on Race, Diversity & Policy artinfo: ui: 55096916 ppf: 123 ppct: 16 formats: tig: atl: Embodying the White Racial Frame: The (In)Significance of Barack Obama. aug: au: Moore, Wendy Leo Bell, Joyce M. affil: Texas A&M University University of Georgia su: United States Obama, Barack, 1961- Minorities Civil rights Human rights sug: subj: Minorities Civil rights Human rights United States Obama, Barack, 1961- ab: Immediately after Obama's election, within both popular and scholarly discourse, claims that his election signified a post-racial America emerged. In this paper we examine these claims by situating Barack Obama's path to the presidency within the context of the post-civil rights politics of race. We assert that the symbol of the United States' first black president combines with Obama's espousal of the white racial frame in a way that is potentially dangerous to racial reform. Obama's focus on a colorblind, abstract liberal individualistic notion of race lends credibility to conceptions of race that recognize difference but disavow structural inequality. We demonstrate how this frame has been employed by the Supreme Court in a manner that limited and ultimately stalled the remedial potential of affirmative action policy largely through an abstract conceptualization of "diversity." The contemporary legal and political atmosphere is thus particularly hostile to remedies aimed at creating structural change. As such, we assert that while Obama's presidency is touted as proof of racial equality, given his discursive commitment to abstract liberalism and white racial framing, his presidency actually propels a so-called "diversity" project which functions to reify structural racial inequality. We warn against the use of the symbol of Barack Obama to stall racial progress. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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